Brought to you live from ITALIA!
Some news: the date of RAW Artists was changed to the day I flew out of Italy so I was unable to perform with If/Then :(. But hey, I'm in Italy. Got in this morning and have so far been up for an ungodly amount of hours.
Arrived in Rome with my brother and we know no Italian and sort of just went with the flow. Apparently our hotel in Rome is in China Town...that's right, China Town, Rome.
So far ive had the best cappuccino ever, and I smell like a true Italian...(gross)
The most interesting experience of the day was either the seven foot tall tranny that looked like the Italian Cher,
OR
When mike and I used four languages to get a sim card for our phones out here. (English, Italian, Spanish, and mandarin).

I don't think i can upload pictures from my iPad to my blog, so see my twitter or Facebook for any of those.

We've finally been allowed to check into our hotel after roaming Rome for three hours. And after a siesta we are out for a drink. Ciao!

Late June Updates and some Job Advice

As I figured, Vital Dance didn't take me because I will be out of the country for their next performance. Boo.

Missing Paul Taylor's annual beach party because I'll be in Italy.

Haven't been really able to do any new auditions because the auditions/rehearsals/performances are for when I'll be away.

And lastly, the date of the Raw Artist series has been changed to June 30th, so I will no longer be able to perform with If/Then Dance, because I will be in a plane somewhere between Washington and Rome.

But on the upside...I'M GOING TO ITALY!!!


As for some other news, my internship with Paul Taylor will be ending next week before I go away.  I've got tons of workstudy hours, so I can continue to take classes for this fall when they start back up.

Also I'm looking into some job transitions.
Here's the deal:  Starbucks does not pay enough for my rent/living/loans and I can't be workings 35+ hour weeks on my feet trying to make it happen.  It is SO draining working nonstop on your feet like that.  My body feels unhealthy, and like it's shrinking.

Here is some job advice for dancers without rich Daddies, that I've collected from my teachers upon graduating, and now have come to understand through experience.  Because let's face it, dancing won't pay the bills:
DON'T get a job where you're on your feet for long hours and long weeks
DO get a job within your interests
DO get a dance or fitness related job
DO get a job where you can sit down and rest your body or have short weekly hours
Office jobs are GREAT.  As long as you can fit in class and rehearsals.

Through taking classes at Taylor, I've come to understand that a LOT of dancers nanny for a living.  It's nothing to put on your professional resume, but it can pay BIG bucks in this rich city.

So, I'm off to Prospect Park tomorrow for a little interview for an afterschool babysitter.  20+ hours a week, two children, good pay, late afternoons and evenings so I can take class or rehearse in the morning.  I have lots of babysitting experience, especially growing up with little sisters, so I will have fun.
Just what I'm looking for.

OR

If you're REALLY lucky, you can just have Mommy and Daddy pay for all of college, your rent, your travel, your food, and your living expenses!!!! (note tone of sarcasm and bitterness)

Dance is such an unfair and elite profession that is only for the rich.  All of this job and money stuff really limits and holds you back.  I for see in my near future, days where I eat cereal for all three meals, but I've really got no other choice :P

Got some partnerin' ta do

On the train back from an audition: Vital Dance
Started with a smooth improv warmup (I did a floor barre and abbreviated ballet barre at home)
We learned a couple phrases, and she had us play with some musicality and quality.
Then some quick partnering at the end.
What the heck AU Dance?! Makin' me look like a fool at two auditions now because I don't know much of anything about partnering :/ One HUGE flaw of Adelphi... Hopefully they're working on it but I tend to doubt that...

Anyway Vital Dance was looking for a couple dancers for the company and some upcoming things (one in July which I will be in Italy for). The choreographer, Shawna, was great; she was very enthusiastic, excited, and passionate about her work and the process.
All in all it was a very fun audition, almost like a relaxed rep class or something.
I'm just a little disappointed in my lack of partnering skills.

I'll be hearing back from Vital Dance tomorrow-ish.
In the meantime, I am currently chuggin' down some Gatorade and replenishing some electrolytes.

Fixes

Images from last couple of blogs that never uploaded (ma' bad). 

The first is from Natalie Walter's article (the AU Dance majors at graduation!)

The second is for If/Then Dance's upcoming performance June 23rd! Catch me there

L Train Blues

As if things aren't tough enough, things can go wrong before you even get to an audition. Yeah, you may not even make it to the audition part. Like what happened to me today for example!

I was planning on a music video audition (jazz, modern, some hip hop dance for Gordon Voidwell) after my internship. So with plenty of time to spare, I hit up the F to the L to get over to BK. 50 minutes of standing like cattle in a slaughter house, and I'm still in manhattan on the unmoving L train--it's 7pm and the audition has began.

Also today, was an audition for J Chen,which filled up and I got closed out of.
Sometimes, you send in your request for an audition via email with your resume attached, and companies can say, "nah, you can't audition for us. Not worth our time."
Other times, you can get lost and arrive 20 minutes late to an audition, and get turned away (I saw this happen to a girl at Paul Taylor)
Don't even get me started on theatre. Most shows won't even let you audition unless you're union, and guess what? To be in a union, you have to be cast in a show first!

The moral of this dancerly story?
Well there is no moral, just fate.

RAW

Oh! and I forgot.  I have a performance coming up with If/Then Dance and Sam Householder on June 23rd.  Unpaid, but it is something, and it's a pretty big event:  RAW Artist Series

3 Weeks Deep in Post-Graduation

Check out Adelphi Dancer, Natalie Walter's article on graduating with a dance degree! College Dance and the "Real World"

I've been in the "Real World" now for three weeks and I think I still have a lot to figure out. 

My 35 hour a week job at Starbucks is just not working for me.  I caught a cold the last week of school with all the lack of sleep, and have now had a fluctuating cold for a month that I just can't seem to quit with the amount of hours I work and trying to dance.  I just can't get enough sleep.

Which makes me think that Starbucks will not work for me.

Most of the dance classes I want to take are morning classes.  Waking up at 7:30 with a hacking cough and trying to drag myself to a dance class is just not working, which makes me consider something.

What does a dancer do when they are sick and need to go to class?

Back in school, not going to class meant affecting my grade, and going through the humiliation of perhaps being a softy.  Now going to class sick could maybe be rude to the other dancers and teacher.  Not to mention that I am abusing my instrument even more by taking away sleeping time and putting it through something it doesn't want to do when sick.  I think missing class and missing a rehearsal are obviously different cases.  But one of my teachers who danced in Taylor for years told me he missed rehearsal only twice:  once when his first child was born, and the other time when he thought his wife had cancer so he went to the doctor with her.  There should be no excuse for me missing class, especially if it is only guaranteed that I can go about twice a week.  But this morning my body begged me for more sleep. 

So in conclusion to this dance-life-lesson, you can't work on your feet 35+ hour weeks with late/early hours, and try to dance, while staying healthy. 

Solution:  I need to get a new job...